Steve Bruce said the enthusiasm of Sheffield Wednesday chairman Dejphon Chansiri was the driving force behind him getting back into management.

The 58-year-old admitted he was unsure if he would ever take on another job after leaving Aston Villa last October.

But he said his meeting with Chansiri was enough to convince him that Wednesday should be his tenth job in a storied managerial career.

“I really did think twice," he said. "I'd thought long and hard about whether I wanted to go back into management.

“But when I got the phonecall from the chairman and met him with his enthusiasm, he wnts this club to be successful.”

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“That started the adrenaline to get back on the horse again."

Bruce saw his request to delay the start of his Wednesday career for a month granted by Chansiri and expressed his gratitude to the Thai businessman.

It was a decision which drew criticism from high profile television pundits last weekend and prompted Bruce to reveal his reasons for delay in a national newspaper interview.

He spoke of the need for two operations, plus time away from the sport for family reasons after a difficult year in which he lost both his parents.

But he insists now he is a good place and is ready to get going.

“Physically I’m great, emotionally I’m great," he said.

"It’s been well documented what has happened over the last few weeks and months for me.

“I’m delighted to be the new Wednesday manager and I’ve started today.

“I know there has been a furore over the last few weeks but I always spoke to the chairman, told of him the issues I’d had and he was prepared to say okay.

“He wanted me to start straight away but I said I couldn’t.

“I’m glad to be here and I’m delighted to get started.

On the criticism, he said: “It doesn’t surprise me anymore that people are ready to hold decisions against you when they don’t know the facts.

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